Kevin Kolb Sets Sights on Super Bowl

Really. You mean to tell me the erstwhile (love to use that word) Cardinals signal caller said he signed with the Bills because he wants to win a Super Bowl. This blogger blames multiple concussions Kolb has suffered throughout his career. Yes, that's what we've become...

Bills Making Headlines

Can't believe the Bills are relevant nationally, for the first time, well I guess since Trent Edwards started us 5-1 in 2008 before we collapsed. I'm hoping this year's team is fundamentally sounder. We seem to move the ball well, both through the air and on the ground - a good sign, of course if Freddie or Fitz goes down, all bets are off. And, our run defense seems much improved. As for the pass defense - four interceptions yesterday (off Brady of all people) was great, but you can't expect that every game. I'm thinking a pass rush is going to have to emerge at some point, for us to make the playoffs. We'll see....Merriman had like one pressure yesterday, on something like 40 attempts by Brady - so he was certainly not his old "Lights Out" self. I guess we can just continue to outscore people...

Cheers.

Ralph

At Least You're not a Bills Fan

From Bill Barnwell's daily update (of the current NFL free agent frenzy) on Grantland:

"Say a word for the Bills, who have to spend about $30 million or so to hit the salary floor by the end of this season. They started their arduous trek to the basement by giving 30-year-old cornerback Drayton Florence a three-year deal worth $15 million. They're sort of like the Panthers, but they don't even have the ability to woo most of their own free agents into re-signing for ghastly sums of money. Expect Donte Whitner to follow Paul Posluszny out the door. Some mid-tier free agents with a high tolerance for cold weather are about to become very happy people."

Vikings sign McNabb

Since, I see Dr. D. is reading the blog, I thought I'd solicit his thoughts on his Vikings latest veteran QB signing. While Donovan McNabb is probably a better guy than Brett Favre (although T.O. might not think so), I really don't know if you are going to be able to capture the same magic that Favre did with the Vikings a couple years ago. McNabb was kind of a washout with the Redskins last year - although he did have several good to great years with the Eagles. The Eagles, of course, seem like they can put anyone under center and make them a good QB - A.J. Feely, Kevin Kolb, and Michael Vick have also enjoyed success - albeit in shorter runs than McNabb - under Andy Reid at Philly.

What tools does Minnesota have to help McNabb succeed? Well, they just lost Sidney Rice as a free agent, and most people considered him to be their best receiver. I guess you still have Percy Harvin, who looks like he can ball a little. And T.O., Ochocinco, and Moss are all out there as free agents...I think it might be a long year for McNabb. (He does have A.P. to hand off too at least.)

McNabb's signing fits with a long-time Vikings tradition of utilizing veteran QBs vs. developing their own talent. In order, there has been Joe Kapp (from the CFL), Fran Tarkenton (started with the Vikes, but then traded to Giants before being brought back), Tommy Kramer (their own guy), the Denny Green era, which brough Jim McMahan, Warren Moon, Randall Cunningham and Jeff George into town, Dante Culpepper (their own guy), Favre and now McNabb. What does this say?

Reviving the Blog

Maybe...or maybe I just needed someplace to jot down this one thought. Since the original concept of a blog was some sort of on-line diary - was that it, a Web log complete with links - I guess it is serving its purpose.

Anyhow, I came across this post by Chuck Klosterman on Edgar Winter today and while it is your typical solid Chuck K. post (Chuck K. rocks - and he spent some time in Akron), it is even better because Johnny Winter, Edgar's brother, played 8 Great Tuesday's last night. Fairly remarkable show. Johnny, who like Edgar is an albino, is mentioned in this article as being one of the 100 greatest blues guitarist of all-time and he certainly rocked last night. It was your typical beautiful Tuesday night on the bay, temperature in the 70s and a somewhat cool breeze blowing in - certainly a welcome respite from the recent heat.

Johnny looked like he was about 90 years old and sat down most of the time, while playing. He actually had to be helped off the stage (and probably on I'm assuming, but I didn't see it). I was all hyped for a solid blues show, but didn't really get into it until I went down near the stage and stood like 50 feet and front of him and watched. It was mezmorizing. He actually stood up for a version of "It's All Over Now" and then closed things out with an absolutely smokin' version of Dylan's Hightway 61 Revisited. Great stuff (and all for free. He's playing at a bar in Cleveland tonight and tix are $40 a pop) and I wanted to tell someone about it - Klosterman really - but dammit, for some reason, they make it really hard to find the writers' e-mail addresses on Grantland. Find that very annoying.

Anyhow, there's a post for you -whoever stumbles up this.

Cheers.

Ralph

Moss Back With Vikings

Interesting post here on how the Pats were a better money team before Moss. Not sure I buy all of it, because other things changed for the Pats, like their defense got a lot worse, but still it makes many good points about Moss coming up short in the playoffs. Of course, I was the guy who predicted the Brady-Moss combination would be a disaster. Well, now the Patriots have traded Moss before they won any Super Bowls with him....well, I still think I was kind off base, but maybe not as bad as it initially looked when Brady and Moss teamed up to break the single season passing TD record in Moss' first year.

While I might not have agreed with the Pats bringing Moss in when they did, I certainly agree with their decision to get rid of him now. I thought he was much less effective last year than he had been in the past and really seemed to be coasting/heading downhill this year. Maybe moving back to Minnesota will cause him to reinvest himself in the game. We can only hope Favre is properly motivated to motivate Moss (as well as himself) or it's going to be a long season up on the plains of Minnesota. (Or maybe it won't really matter how motivated Moss is. Maybe he's just too old to be an elite receiver, based on the way he plays the game.)

It's no secret that Moss' contract is up after this year, and I think the Patriots really were leaning against resigning him. Funny thing is, if Favre doesn't come back next year (or the Vikes don't get another top-notch QB), I can't see why he would want to sign with them/they would want to sign him. This means that despite the trade, Moss will likely be a free agent next year. He has about 12 games-plus playoffs to proof he's still worth top dollar.

Joique Bell signed by Eagles

I don't know that it can get any worse, but the Eagles have signed one of my favorite Bills players off the practice squad. If you want to see how good Joique Bell is, watch this video. It's incredible. Granted, he's playing for Division II Wayne State (one of their opponents is Mercyhurst), but you got to love this kid's running style. He was apparently too slow to get drafted, but lit it up in the Bills first two preseason games, before fading and getting dropped to the practice squad.

Well, the Eagles saw enough in him to add him to their active roster, which means he's no longer a Bill. If recent trends hold true, Bell will likely go on to be, if not a star, a very good player in the NFL. After all, both Jets safety Jim Leonhard and Saints cornerback Jabari Greer were undrafted free agents "discovered" and developed by the Bills, before being allowed to leave the team as free agents, because they apparently weren't good enough to play for us, but now play key roles on championship caliber teams. Jason Peters was another UFA that we developed into a Pro Bowl player, but then decided we didn't want to pay and traded to the Eagles.

With brilliant personnel decisions like these, it's no wonder we're turning into a laughinstock for the league.

Bills Train Derailed...

Well, we all know the Bills stink, but here's the latest. It's from the stat geek Football Outsiders site-an article discussing the slew of quarterback benchings after only the second game of the season. It includes this great line about our now deposed starter Trent Edwards: "The question that coaches need to ask themselves before making a move: He's Derek Anderson. He's Matt Moore. He's Trent Edwards. What did you expect?"

And this sterling endorsement of our new starter Ryan Fitzpatrick: "Edwards is being replaced by Ryan Fitzpatrick, who's ranked 36th, 35th, and 36th in DVOA over his three seasons with significant playing time and has to rank as one of the worst quarterbacks in the modern era to get 23 starts." Yup, that's now our guy. The question now becomes, can the Bills win a game?

Outdoor TV

Seems to be the latest trend - what with the new digital projectors and flatscreen TVs that are extremely portable - not to mention that ability to stream Internet video through wireless connections. I think this is a good thing. Beteween Thursday and Sunday, I watched most of three football games outdoors (on video, not to mention that two grade shool games live on Saturday - I think I've OD'd on football). No doubt this outdoor viewing will become more difficult come November, but for now, the barbeque and beer sitting in the cooler sure is nice.



Ralph

Ford Winstar Recall

If you have Ford Winstar, year 1998 to 2003, you want to call the local Ford dealer and get your rear axle replaced. Ours cracked about 90% of the way through a couple months ago. I went online to do some research before taking it to the garage and found the federal government was doing an investigation on these vehicles. Apparently, the axles have a slight U-shape to them, and in states like ours (PA), where there is moisture and salt on the road most of the winter, this causes the axles to corrode. When these things reach 100,000 miles or so, they have a tendancy to crack.

As I said, we luckily (thanks to my wife's observation of the way the van was riding) caught ours before it snapped, because that can be both dangerous and ruin your tires. I drove my van down to the garage at about 10 mph and got a new axle put in for like $600, which is a lot cheaper than I read some other people paid.

Regardless, Ford issued a recall on these vehicles last week. I called Champion Ford in Erie, and they told me to come in for an inspection and bring the receipt. They said Ford will be sending us a check. Note: I have not heard from Ford yet that there is a recall, I just happened to see the story on-line. I guess I'm saying, don't be afraid to be proactive on this (and you suppedly get a free rental while they are doing the repairs.)

Cheers.

Ralph

Mouse in the Garbage

I heard this sound like an animal burrowing in my office this morning. Thought it was coming from the pile of junk in the corner, or maybe behind my desk. Wasn't really that excited about it and was hoping whatever it was would go to sleep, so I could try and catch it with a trap at night. But the burrowing continued, and I was having a hard time pinpointing it - when I realized it was coming from the garbage can right next to my desk! (Thank God, my 9 a.m. call cancelled. What if I had been on the phone when I came to this realization?) Yes, the same garbage can I had reached into earlier to pull out my leather business card holder. How did that get in there?


Well, I picked up the can and tossed all the contents out the door, and out came flying a tiny little creature - I think it was a mouse, but it could have been a frog for all I know, and it scurried away.

Yes, Wild Kingdom lives.


Marlon Perkins.

Verizon Customer Service

Wow, it's been forever since I posted.

Maybe I've had not much interesting to say.

But tonight I guess as I do.

As a went to a football game, on a beautiful night

Only to have the power go out, dimming the lights

and my DSL got fixed

after a week of being out

and I told all my newsletter subscribers

to drop their stock in Verizon if they had it.

Cheers.

Ralph

LeBron to Make Call Tonight

Rumors are floating around that it's going to be Miami - teaming up with Wade and Bosh - but I hate that possibility because I just can't imagine why LeBron and Wade would want to be on the same team at this stage in their careers. Anyhow, press conference/selection show is being held in Greenwich, CT-so, maybe it's the Knicks. Seems like the Cavs are going to be screwed.

Bill Simmons, ESPN's sports guy, wrote a long column on the whole LeBron thing, but let me just give you the final paragraphs, which are great:

"… what the hell kind of sporting event is this? It's like college signing day crossed with JFK's assassination. LeBron's team wanted to keep people talking and promote his website, and really, that's what happened. The man nearly exploded Twitter and melted ESPN. He transcended free agency, the World Cup, everything. He will draw a massive television audience tonight; he's the only professional athlete who could have pulled that off.

What a week for LeBron's brand. I just hope he remembers to wipe the blood off the knife after he pulls it from Cleveland's back."

Cheers.

Ralph

Hoosiers of Baseball

This is a great article that appeared in Sports Illustrated last week. It's about some borderline hippie coach and his baseball team from the a tiny high school that took second in the open Illinois state tournament in 1971.

There's a lot in the article about the coach's style that I can identify with. He's kind of all about empowering the players, and I'm a big fan of that. I kind of look at it as being their team, and I'm just there to point them in the right direction. This may be because the majority of my sports experience growing up was playing pick-up games with no adult supervision. So, I don't really have a traditional, autocratic, disciplinarian coach in my background to model my style after. Also, did I mention he was an English teacher.

Anyhow, I had great fun reading aforementioned article. One of my favorites I've come across in the last few years.

Wimbledon: Longest Match follow-up

This one is for anyone that has ever been dog tired. Dude played an 11-hour match with a 138-game fifth set over the past two days and then got creamed in his second-round match today.

Some of my favorite lines from the AP story:

"Isner had no aces after hitting a record 112 [in the marathon match] against Mahut. 'I've never been this exhausted before," Isner said. "Mentally and physically, I was obviously a bit drained. I just didn't have much in the way of my legs. I was just low on fuel out there. Didn't really have a chance.'

"Isner received a standing ovation when he walked onto court. He immediately lost his serve -- something that didn't happen once in his 70-68 fifth set against Mahut. 'The turnaround time -- he just didn't have enough time to get his body right,' said Isner's coach, Craig Boynton. 'He's one tired boy.'

"Isner didn't warm up before taking the court and showed up unshaven. 'It was brutal,' Isner said. 'Things were looking pretty bleak right from the get-go.'

All in good fun, of course...

Erie D-Backs Rock

Congrats to my Little League team, the Erie Diamondbacks for taking third place in the North East Tournament on Sunday. Because of Saturday's rains, they ended up playing the whole tourney on Sunday and the D-Backs played six (yes, six) games. Games were limited to an hour and a half and two of our games were this shootout format, where every batter started with a full count, but still, we played something close the equivalent of 30 innings of baseball in one day.

It was a beautiful, almost too nice, day, as the sun was really baking us. North East has a nice facility out there with multiple ball fields, but the tree cover is sparse.

The D-Backs won four games and lost two - and each game was decided by one run. Go figure. It was a lot of fun and the kids really came together as a team. Going into the tournament, we had lost our last two games by a combined total of like 20 runs, so it was nice to turn things around. Quite frankly, I think we surprised a few people, including yours truly. Now, I just have to figure out why we don't play like this every time out.

Ahh, the joys of coaching.

Cheers.

Red Sox-Yankees, latest chapter

So, I get home from our Little League game and am posting our stats on-line (if you click on the link, you'll see we kind of got clobbered, but I was happy with our kids for not giving up, etc. etc.), and I tune in the Yankees-Red Sox video feed on ESPN 3. Sure enough, the score is 7-6 Yankees in the sixth and it looks like were in for another nailbiter in the Bronx.

Then, I recall that on the way to our game, I had to listen to my old friend Red and James L. LeCorchick rip apart the networks for constantly showing Yankees-Red Sox action.

Here's what followed: Yankees bullpen is injured. Nobody seems to know if it's Chamberlain or Rivera, but neither is available for the eighth inning. So, Girardi leaves the hapless Chan Ho Park in, who is not even good necessarily when he's healthy, but is now just coming off the D.L. Well, two home runs later, it's 9-7 Red Sox and the Beantowners have come all the way back from an 0-5 first inning deficit to take the lead.

Another recall: during our game, one of our coaches, who's a 'Sox fans, taunts me about Mariano Rivera giving up a game-losing grand slam last night.

Well, Yankees go down harmlessly to Red Sox' set-up man Bard in the bottom of the eighth and a couple Yankees pitchers get the Sox in the top of the ninth. Bottom of the ninth - in comes Red Sox hated closer Jonathan Papelbon. I'm down stairs getting ice cream. I come back up and Brett Gardner is on third and A-Rod launches one to tie it up. Papelbon beans our next hitter - young catcher Cervelli, and Marcus Thames follows with game winner down the left-field line. Yankees win 11-9, players mob each other, Thames get pie in the face, etc. (I text our Sox-fan coach thanking him for jinxing Papelbon.)

You really mean to tell me that is the type of action you want to keep off TV -James L and Red? Maybe the great game is the exception more than the rule, but still, tell me two other teams that could play such an intense game in May? I know I'm a biased Yankee fan, but, when the Yankees and Red Sox get together, it often brings the game to another level that you just don't get with other teams in the regular season. These are the two highest paid franchises in the league, there are some big egos out there, and really, they have some history. I'll go so far as to compare it to Steelers-Browns back in the day. Didn't everyone want to see that?

Well, everyone is entitled to their opinions, but I don't think televising the Red Sox Yankees ahead of the Indians-Rays game is a bad decision.

Ralph

Too Tall Jones -Geico Commercial

Former Cowboys defensive end Ed Jones had one of the greatest nicknames ever. I mean, can you compare any nicknames today to "Too Tall?" They even use it on Arthur. Anyhow, I happen to be in Dallas and saw this commercial. Has anyone seen this locally?

Too Many Strikeouts and Walks

Great article by Tom Verducci on how this trend is affecting the MLB. I agree it makes for a more boring game, even on the Little League level. I try and teach my kids to put it in play and don't be afraid to strike out swinging. Contact make the game more fun for everyone (excepting the pitcher maybe.)

Dick Allen SI Cover

Only in the early 1970s...